Islamabad, Dec 30: The Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) has invited a group of 250 Hindus to visit the country in an attempt to encourage “faith tourism”.
The group will visit the ‘samadhi’ of Paramhansji Maharaaj, a saint who died in Teri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district in 1919, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
“A number of Hindu pilgrims from India, the United Arab Emirates and the US will arrive in Peshawar on January 1 to visit the ‘samadhi’,” PHC patron Ramesh Kumar Vankwani was quoted as saying.
The Hindu Council has arranged the programme in collaboration with Pakistan International Airlines.
“This is the second time the Council has invited Hindu pilgrims from other countries so that they can see for themselves the existence of a tolerant and pluralistic society in Pakistan,” said Vankwani.
Fifty-four Hindus from India, Canada, Singapore, Australia and Spain visited the country last month. The group was led by Shri Satguruji Maharaajji, the fifth successor of Paramhansji Maharaaj.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmad celebrated the Diwali festival at Teri temple last month to express solidarity with local members of the Hindu community and to welcome pilgrims from other parts of the country.
The shrine at Teri was built in 1920 to honour Paramhansji Maharaaj. A mob led by a local leader of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) vandalised it on December 30 last year. The temple was attacked in 1997 as well.
The provincial government carried out extensive repairs on the orders of Chief Justice Ahmed to restore it to its old glory.
